1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data terminal apparatus capable of executing a plurality of functions in a selective manner by using a menu screen, a server apparatus constituted so as to effect data communication with the data terminal apparatus, a communication system composed of the data terminal apparatus and the server apparatus, and a method for updating a menu screen.
2. Description of the Related Art
In keeping with the recent buildup of communication network environments such as the Internet, it is becoming easier to achieve data communication on a household basis. While personal computers (PC) have been widely used as terminal apparatuses for data communication, some household electrical appliances such as a television receiving set, a game machine, and a set-top box have come to provide a data communication function and a browsing function so as to serve also as data communication terminal apparatuses.
For example, in order to browse an Internet web site on a PC, a browsing program, namely a browser is launched to make URL (Uniform Resource Locator) entry possible. In this case, a user is required to carry out troublesome operations to display the desired Internet web site on the screen.
In that connection, according to the data display/selection method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 2003-6097, a list of higher-priority web sites to be linked is downloaded, and the link information provided in the list is correlated with a numeric keypad. In this way, a user is able to display a desired Internet web site on a screen simply by operating the ten-keypad. Moreover, according to the user terminal disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication JP-A 2003-524239, a channel table for providing a summary of the names and addresses of Internet web sites is downloaded, and the channel numbers and the names of Internet web sites are displayed in a menu form. In this way, a user is able to display a desired Internet web site on a screen simply by entering a given channel number with use of the ten-key pad.
On the other hand, in order to browse an Internet web site on a television receiving set, an internet connection mode is established to make URL entry possible. Also in this case, a user is required to carry out troublesome operations to display the desired Internet web site on the screen. In order to overcome such a problem and ensure higher operability, the following techniques have been developed to date.
In the Internet television receiving set disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 2001-86421, Internet address information is received at regular time intervals, and a predetermined channel number is assigned to each of the received Internet addresses. In this way, a user is able to display a desired Internet web site on the screen simply by selecting a corresponding channel number. Moreover, in the television receiving set disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 2002-44536, channel selection numbers and operation program (browser, for instance)-related information or program selection information are stored correlatively to each other. In this way, a user is able to display a desired Internet web site on the screen simply by selecting a corresponding channel selection number.
Further, the data processing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3594187 is designed to deal with both content data being developed over a network and television broadcast waves. In this construction, with the acquisition of information on a control button for allowing access to content data, a control button to be operated for viewing a predetermined program aired on television and the control button for allowing access to content data are displayed on the same screen. As the last reference, in the communication terminal support network system disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3646229, the terminal support apparatus incorporated therein is provided with means for producing a menu screen indicative of a procedure to be followed in establishing connection between a subscriber's terminal and an external communication terminal, and means for storing control server-rewritable menu screen data. In this construction, the menu screen data is rewritten by the control server on the basis of an update number received upon communication with the terminal support apparatus. This makes it possible to simplify user operation.
However, the above stated inventions have the following disadvantages. According to the disclosures of JP-A 2001-86421 and JP-A 2002-44536, by bringing an Internet address or a data processing program such as a browser or a mailer into correspondence with a given channel number, it is possible to allow a user to effect data communication through a simple operation similar to that for viewing television programs. In this case, however, it is necessary for the user to carry out a setting operation to define the correspondence. Therefore, a setting operation needs to be performed every time a change or addition is made to the correspondence. According to the disclosure of Japanese Patent Publication No. 3594187, since the first control button for allowing access to content data and the second control button for viewing television programs are displayed on the same screen, it follows that a user may possibly get confused about a plurality of functions, which leads to poor operability. The addition of functions cannot be achieved without increasing the number of the first button. The information for the display of the first control button is available through a network, wherefore the number of the first control button is undesirably increased against user's will. As a result, the operability will be decreased even further.
According to the disclosure of Japanese Patent Publication No. 3646229, menu screen data is rewritten by reprogramming the menu data storage means of the terminal support apparatus in the maintenance means of the control server. In this case, the control server is inevitably put under a heavy load, and is thus required to have higher data processing capability.